This week started off with Kaitlynn turning 6 weeks old! It's hard to believe that this time 6 weeks ago Kelly and I were at my doctor's appointment listening to our options for delivery. Two - three more weeks of contractions and pain or a C-Section. After 6 enjoyable, exhausting, and hard weeks, we are both so very happy that Kaitlynn was born two weeks early. As much as things have changed around here for Kelly & I, we cannot imagine our life without our daughter. She is our pride and joy and so much fun to be around!
She has started smiling at both of us - it takes her a little while to do it right now, but when she does smile it absolutely melts our heart. She has started doing much better with her feeding schedule. We have gotten her to eat every 2.5-3 hours during the day instead of every 1.5-2 hours which has been wonderful. At night she'll go about 4-5 hours between her feedings right now. Kelly & I have a sleeping arrangement set up until she's sleeping through the night. I go to sleep anywhere between 9:00-10:00pm and he stays up with her until 11:00-12:00am depending on her mood. I get up with her around 2:00-3:00am and then Kelly gets up with her around 6:00am. It has worked out great and I'm just so thankful to have a husband willing to get up at night and let me get some extra rest!
After taking the girls for a walk around 9:00am, Kaitlynn spent her 6 week old b-day sleeping away the morning! In the mornings she'll usually sleep in her cradle swing. She slept until about 11:00am. This usually allows me to get some things done around the house. It's becoming a common occurrence with her these days - sleep until 11:00/12:00, stay awake from until 3:00/4:00, take a nap until 6:00/7:00, then awake until she decides to go back to sleep! Of course there are days that she doesn't have a "normal" schedule - those days we just play it by ear what we do! Almost like a nice break in a normal routine :) Keeps things interesting!
Heading out for our morning walk!
*It was 50 degrees this morning*
Kaitlynn's morning nap :)
Willa Grace taking her morning nap too!
We also had a visit from my dad today - he came over around noon - he couldn't stay that long because of different work appointments. But, it's always so good to see him!!
The afternoon was a little bit more rough - mainly because of me :) Kaitlynn was awake from 11:30am - 2:30pm, fell asleep in my lap twice and both times I tried laying her down in the crib. When we move her so much she always wakes up which in turn frustrates her because she's so tired! She stayed awake to eat around 4:30 and I finally tried putting her in her swing - that worked a lot better than moving her to the crib. I think I'll stick to my old ways of doing things for now - laying her on the couch, putting her in the swing, or just letting her nap in my lap if I don't have anything I need to do!
Even if there was no nap - there can always be pictures :)
So precious to see our baby girl in her long awaited crib!
"What am I staring at you ask??"
"My crib mobile from 'aunt' Mary"
Since Kaitlynn was tough getting down for some naps - when she was in my lap, I took a few different types of pictures!!
Kaitlynn's foot
Kaitlynn's tiny toes!
Kaitlynn's feet
Kaitlynn's hand
We had dinner tonight with Melissa & Jody. I have missed spending time with them! We met at La Paz - one of my all time favorite Mexican restaurants. It was so nice getting out and having dinner with my husband, daughter and great friends! Best of all, Kaitlynn was perfect during our time out. It probably didn't hurt though that both Melissa & Jody enjoyed holding her :) An excellent way to end Kaitlynn's 6-week old b-day!
**Thursday night also marked Kaitlynn's last night sleeping in her bassinet! Kind of sad, but excited about a new step in her life - moving into the crib!**
Friday started off well - Kaitlynn slept great last night, but she also took her normal morning nap in the cradle swing! She woke up around 8:30am, I got her fed, and took both the girls out for a quick walk.... wasn't sure when the rain was moving in this morning. Once we got inside, Kaitlynn went down in the swing for her nap - she usually sleeps around 1-2 hours for her morning nap! This is the time that I'm able to get things done around the house - if all goes to plan and she does nap :)
Kaitlynn woke up around 11:30am, ate, and fell right back to sleep! I couldn't keep my baby girl awake this morning! This time, I let her sleep on my chest for about 10 minutes and then moved her to the crib! She ended up napping for about 40 minutes in the crib. I didn't think it would last too long since she had been asleep ALL morning. No matter how long this short nap lasted, it was her first official nap in the crib!
Erika & Angi stopped by around 12:15pm - they stayed for about an hour. It was Erika's first time seeing Kaitlynn. It was great getting to see both of them for an hour today! Kelly also came home for lunch around this time, so our house was full of people!
Today really was an easy day..... Kaitlynn wanted to eat again around 1:45pm (last feeding she only took 1.5 ounces so it was definitely time!). She fell sleep in my lap and I moved her into the cradle swing. She stayed asleep for her afternoon nap until about 4:00pm.
The evening was spent relaxing at home! Since we have gone out the past two nights, we decided to stay in and enjoy being home and together as a family. My mom sent us a coupon to get an On Demand movie for $0.01 so we took advantage of that tonight.
**Friday night - Kaitlynn's 1st night sleeping in her crib. Kelly & I slept in the nursery - we do have a queen size bed in there so it worked out well :)
Saturday started off with "baby-proofing" our already baby-proofed nursery. Doing so also means that Kaitlynn didn't sleep in her crib last night like we thought. Plans changed! I wanted to lower the crib, get the monitor set up, and figure out how to keep the nursery from staying SO cold. It's a lot cooler than the rest of our home because of it's location. There is not a home connected to that side of our home so it definitely stays much cooler.
Here are some pictures of the nursery now!
Crib is now where the changing table used to be - by the guest bed.
**Away from the air vent!**
This is where the crib USED to be!
This is the new glider we purchased a few weeks ago!
**LOVE IT!**
The changing table has a new location now as well!
This is where the bookshelf was & my Jewelry Armoire, which is now in our bedroom.
Kelly got the crib fixed the way we wanted while I set up our monitor. We got a movement sensor monitor to let us know if Kaitlynn stops breathing at any point while in the crib. It's actually a really neat monitor - I played with it a lot today!
Around 1:00pm, I headed out for some "Kristen" time. I went to Intrigue Salon in East Cobb to get my hair done! It was wonderful and I cannot wait to go back in 3 months for my next appointment. I felt like I was getting a complete makeover while I was there. I did something very different - had my hair colored, had some of my original highlights pulled through, had low lights put in, and a toner - and of course had my hair cut & shaped up a bit. It was the best outing I've had by myself in a long time!
Saturday evening was pretty low key for our family. Kelly wanted to watch football so that was our night! We also attempted to put Kaitlynn in her crib, again - but it didn't happen. The goal is set for Sunday evening!
Kelly headed out this morning - Sunday morning - to play golf with two other guys. Last weekend I called Chris and asked him to "steal" my husband and play golf sometime - he's been wonderful to me & during all these changes that he definitely needed some good guy time and an outing for himself!
Kaitlynn and I relaxed all morning before having Megan over for lunch! It was great spending a few hours with her catching up on life.
Once Kelly got home, I headed out and ran some errands. After having an extra day at home with Kaitlynn for the week, I wanted some "me" time for an hour or so. I headed out to Target to look at space heaters for the nursery, PetSmart to get Willa Grace some more food, and the grocery store! Those were not my ideal errands, but it was nice getting away and being alone for a while.
Our space heater!! It's wonderful! Keeps Kaitlynn's room at 72* and
we keep our house at the temp we desire. Fabulous!
Willa got a new toy while I was out running errands - one for Halloween!!
The question is..... Did Kaitlynn sleep in the nursery Sunday night??
Last night went well - it was a LATE night, but we managed to get Kaitlynn to sleep in the nursery for the 1st time! We couldn't get Kaitlynn down until midnight, but she did sleep in her crib over night without any problems! I stayed in there with her and Kelly slept in our bedroom until about 4:00am.... then he ventured his way into the nursery as well. Before putting Kaitlynn down, we did some "rearranging" in the nursery - take a look!
Today.... Monday, October 5th is our nephew's 2nd birthday - Troy David Watson. It's hard to believe he's already two years old! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
*David, Bonnie, and Troy*
Family picture from Troy's 2nd birthday
(borrowed from their blog website!)
Today was overall a pretty good day! It was a gloomy, rainy day but I definitely didn't mind being at home in my pj's all day with my two precious girls. I was able to be a bit domestic this morning during one of Kaitlynn's short naps today - I cleaned our bathrooms!! It always feels so good these days doing housework since my main priority is taking care of Kaitlynn. Anytime she naps these days, I take advantage of that time and do things around the house. Kelly was late coming in from work because of some things he had to do around the office, but it worked out well. Plus, it doesn't matter when he comes in for lunch - it's just nice having him home for 30 minutes - 1 hour during the day! He did remind me though of his day OFF next Monday!! The banks have a "bank holiday" next Monday so we have a 3-day weekend coming up!! I was completely overjoyed with happiness when he reminded me of the holiday.
The only bad thing about rainy days..... no walking! As of this past weekend I was officially able to start working out. We were planning on buying a treadmill for our home, but the weekend slipped away and we have no treadmill. Hopefully this weekend we'll be able to head out and get one so I can start running and not just walking several times a day! I'm ready to get into some type of routine with our daughter so I know when I can work out - whether it's early in the morning while Kelly is home or late in the afternoon once Kelly gets home from work. Soon enough I'll be in some type of routine I think!
Kaitlynn did well again last night in the nursery. Our problem is not where she sleeps, but it's now getting her to sleep! Once we finally get Kaitlynn down, anytime she wakes up to eat, she goes right back to sleep! Her bedtime process started around 9:00pm last night, like every other night! However this time she did not go to sleep until almost 1:00am. Kelly was up with her - I had fallen asleep..... having a 4-hour bedtime process is not enjoyable for anyone! On a positive note, we both slept in our bedroom last night. The monitors worked great - we heard her once she started crying to let us know she was up. Thankfully we do have a baby that makes no noise when she's sleeping, therefore when she does make noise we know she's awake. Now.... just to make her go to sleep around 10:00pm would be wonderful!
Any ideas?? I did put a call into Kaitlynn's PED to see if she might have any suggestions. At this point we're open to anything! We just would like to see our bed before 1:00am in the near future... or should I say Kelly would like to see the bed before that time??
Unlike yesterday, Kaitlynn did much better with her morning nap today. That really shouldn't have been much of a surprise to me considering she didn't go to sleep until 1:00am. I think I'd sleep pretty good myself throughout the morning if I was up that late and required about 15-20 hours of sleep per day! While she was sleeping I got lunch ready - yes at 9:30am! I put together one of our Homestyle Bakes which come in very handy. They take 5 minutes to prepare and then the oven does all the work! Great for new mommies :) Kelly & I usually eat a sandwich or salad for lunch unless we know we're not cooking for dinner. Tonight we're taking food over to Adam & Heather Raub, so we'll do something simple ourselves for dinner = me cooking lunch! Adam & Heather just had their 2nd child a few weeks ago. I cannot wait to see baby Makenna, Stella, and their proud parents!!
So.... how did tonight go for our 1st bath, bottle, bed routine??
We started Kaitlynn on her bedtime routine around 8:00pm because her next feeding was at 8:30pm (or 11:30pm). Kelly had given her a bath earlier, we made the evening calm and relaxed, took Kaitlynn into the nursery around 8:30pm to feed her and BAM - after eating she was wide awake! We tried anything and everything to get her to sleep, but couldn't manage to do so until 2:00am. I don't know if we're attempting to make a drastic change and should try to get her down around 11pm....then slowly move it earlier - I don't really know what to do anymore except pray and let God handle our daughter.
Just for the amusement of last night.... some attempts we made at putting Kaitlynn down -
1. bath, bottle, bed
2. rocking to sleep, then bed
3. swaying to sleep in lap, then bed
4. (Kelly's attempt) Kaitlynn in car seat on top of dryer
5. Bottle, swaying her to sleep, swing = SUCCESS at 2:00am
I don't know when Kelly finally moved her to the crib, but it was sometime between 2:00am and 4:00am because I leaned over and asked him in bed where Kaitlynn was. At this point Kelly was very "out of it" and said that she was in his lap. I had to remind him that he was alseep in the bed - that was when he told me she was in her crib. I was a happy mommy at that point! Kaitlynn slept from 2:00am - 5:30am, then until 8:30am, and again until lunch time (11:30am).
Today was an overall good day except for the fact that Kaitlynn didn't nap again. I ended up calling and having her pediatrician call me back to discuss. She basically told me Kaitlynn had to nap 1-1.5 hours out of her feed, play, sleep routine during the day. Definitely going to be some work on my part even if that means letting her cry it out in the crib to learn. Dr. Smail explained to me that the majority of Kaitlynn's development takes place during sleep time. Hopefully with my initiative I can get Kaitlynn to learn to nap again as she did in the first few weeks of life. Dr. Smail also told me that we didn't need to stay up with Kaitlynn until 2:00am trying to get her down for bed. We needed to let her cry it out, especially if she's fed, clean, and warm. She explained to let her cry 20-30 minutes before consoling her, then attempt again. A few days of consistency would lead to Kaitlynn going down for naps & bedtime much easier.
Tonight, Kelly and I talked things over and we were waiting to see how the bedtime routine played out. We started around 7:15pm tonight with Kaitlynn's bath. We then fed her around 7:45pm in the nursery with all the lights out. She enjoys hearing the Lullaby CD that my aunt gave me so we had that playing softly in the background. Tonight was the first time Kaitlynn has ever taken 4 ounces. My baby girl is growing up! I noticed that after she finished her 3oz. bottle she was still sucking and starting crying a bit. I laid her down, crying and all, and made another ounce to see what she'd do with it - she took it!
Kelly came in, rocked Kaitlynn for about 30 minutes, laid her down in the crib - 10 minutes later the crying began. We let Kaitlynn cry for the first time for 30 minutes tonight. This truly was the hardest thing I have ever listened to. I laid in bed with Kelly and cried myself - it is so hard listening to our daughter cry, but at the same time knowing she's extremely tired make me want to do what's best for her - cry to sleep. Kaitlynn's PED and Baby Wise explained that most babies need to cry themselves to sleep - either to release energy or to just self-soothe. In the long run it'll pay off having her able to put herself to sleep anytime, anywhere. Anyways, when it hit 30 minutes, Kelly went into the nursery to check her diaper and to console our daughter. He ended up giving her another 1.5oz. around 10:00pm, spent time with her in the nursery and she was down in the crib by 11:00pm. Much better than her 1:00/2:00am put-down. At this point, Kelly and I will take an 11:00pm bedtime - it truly felt odd knowing she was asleep by then.
Today.... Thursday marks Kaitlynn's 7-week B.day! I will be spending the entire day attempting to get her on the Baby Wise routine - Feed, Wake, Sleep. Our pediatrician told us yesterday that Kaitlynn needed to rest between every feeding - she even mentioned the "feed, wake, sleep" process.
After taking the girls for a walk around 9:00am, Kaitlynn spent her 6 week old b-day sleeping away the morning! In the mornings she'll usually sleep in her cradle swing. She slept until about 11:00am. This usually allows me to get some things done around the house. It's becoming a common occurrence with her these days - sleep until 11:00/12:00, stay awake from until 3:00/4:00, take a nap until 6:00/7:00, then awake until she decides to go back to sleep! Of course there are days that she doesn't have a "normal" schedule - those days we just play it by ear what we do! Almost like a nice break in a normal routine :) Keeps things interesting!
Heading out for our morning walk!
*It was 50 degrees this morning*
Kaitlynn's morning nap :)
Willa Grace taking her morning nap too!
We also had a visit from my dad today - he came over around noon - he couldn't stay that long because of different work appointments. But, it's always so good to see him!!
The afternoon was a little bit more rough - mainly because of me :) Kaitlynn was awake from 11:30am - 2:30pm, fell asleep in my lap twice and both times I tried laying her down in the crib. When we move her so much she always wakes up which in turn frustrates her because she's so tired! She stayed awake to eat around 4:30 and I finally tried putting her in her swing - that worked a lot better than moving her to the crib. I think I'll stick to my old ways of doing things for now - laying her on the couch, putting her in the swing, or just letting her nap in my lap if I don't have anything I need to do!
Even if there was no nap - there can always be pictures :)
So precious to see our baby girl in her long awaited crib!
"What am I staring at you ask??"
"My crib mobile from 'aunt' Mary"
Since Kaitlynn was tough getting down for some naps - when she was in my lap, I took a few different types of pictures!!
Kaitlynn's foot
Kaitlynn's tiny toes!
Kaitlynn's feet
Kaitlynn's hand
We had dinner tonight with Melissa & Jody. I have missed spending time with them! We met at La Paz - one of my all time favorite Mexican restaurants. It was so nice getting out and having dinner with my husband, daughter and great friends! Best of all, Kaitlynn was perfect during our time out. It probably didn't hurt though that both Melissa & Jody enjoyed holding her :) An excellent way to end Kaitlynn's 6-week old b-day!
**Thursday night also marked Kaitlynn's last night sleeping in her bassinet! Kind of sad, but excited about a new step in her life - moving into the crib!**
Friday started off well - Kaitlynn slept great last night, but she also took her normal morning nap in the cradle swing! She woke up around 8:30am, I got her fed, and took both the girls out for a quick walk.... wasn't sure when the rain was moving in this morning. Once we got inside, Kaitlynn went down in the swing for her nap - she usually sleeps around 1-2 hours for her morning nap! This is the time that I'm able to get things done around the house - if all goes to plan and she does nap :)
Kaitlynn woke up around 11:30am, ate, and fell right back to sleep! I couldn't keep my baby girl awake this morning! This time, I let her sleep on my chest for about 10 minutes and then moved her to the crib! She ended up napping for about 40 minutes in the crib. I didn't think it would last too long since she had been asleep ALL morning. No matter how long this short nap lasted, it was her first official nap in the crib!
Erika & Angi stopped by around 12:15pm - they stayed for about an hour. It was Erika's first time seeing Kaitlynn. It was great getting to see both of them for an hour today! Kelly also came home for lunch around this time, so our house was full of people!
Today really was an easy day..... Kaitlynn wanted to eat again around 1:45pm (last feeding she only took 1.5 ounces so it was definitely time!). She fell sleep in my lap and I moved her into the cradle swing. She stayed asleep for her afternoon nap until about 4:00pm.
The evening was spent relaxing at home! Since we have gone out the past two nights, we decided to stay in and enjoy being home and together as a family. My mom sent us a coupon to get an On Demand movie for $0.01 so we took advantage of that tonight.
**Friday night - Kaitlynn's 1st night sleeping in her crib. Kelly & I slept in the nursery - we do have a queen size bed in there so it worked out well :)
Saturday started off with "baby-proofing" our already baby-proofed nursery. Doing so also means that Kaitlynn didn't sleep in her crib last night like we thought. Plans changed! I wanted to lower the crib, get the monitor set up, and figure out how to keep the nursery from staying SO cold. It's a lot cooler than the rest of our home because of it's location. There is not a home connected to that side of our home so it definitely stays much cooler.
Here are some pictures of the nursery now!
Crib is now where the changing table used to be - by the guest bed.
**Away from the air vent!**
This is where the crib USED to be!
This is the new glider we purchased a few weeks ago!
**LOVE IT!**
The changing table has a new location now as well!
This is where the bookshelf was & my Jewelry Armoire, which is now in our bedroom.
Kelly got the crib fixed the way we wanted while I set up our monitor. We got a movement sensor monitor to let us know if Kaitlynn stops breathing at any point while in the crib. It's actually a really neat monitor - I played with it a lot today!
Around 1:00pm, I headed out for some "Kristen" time. I went to Intrigue Salon in East Cobb to get my hair done! It was wonderful and I cannot wait to go back in 3 months for my next appointment. I felt like I was getting a complete makeover while I was there. I did something very different - had my hair colored, had some of my original highlights pulled through, had low lights put in, and a toner - and of course had my hair cut & shaped up a bit. It was the best outing I've had by myself in a long time!
Saturday evening was pretty low key for our family. Kelly wanted to watch football so that was our night! We also attempted to put Kaitlynn in her crib, again - but it didn't happen. The goal is set for Sunday evening!
Kelly headed out this morning - Sunday morning - to play golf with two other guys. Last weekend I called Chris and asked him to "steal" my husband and play golf sometime - he's been wonderful to me & during all these changes that he definitely needed some good guy time and an outing for himself!
Kaitlynn and I relaxed all morning before having Megan over for lunch! It was great spending a few hours with her catching up on life.
Once Kelly got home, I headed out and ran some errands. After having an extra day at home with Kaitlynn for the week, I wanted some "me" time for an hour or so. I headed out to Target to look at space heaters for the nursery, PetSmart to get Willa Grace some more food, and the grocery store! Those were not my ideal errands, but it was nice getting away and being alone for a while.
Our space heater!! It's wonderful! Keeps Kaitlynn's room at 72* and
we keep our house at the temp we desire. Fabulous!
Willa got a new toy while I was out running errands - one for Halloween!!
The question is..... Did Kaitlynn sleep in the nursery Sunday night??
Last night went well - it was a LATE night, but we managed to get Kaitlynn to sleep in the nursery for the 1st time! We couldn't get Kaitlynn down until midnight, but she did sleep in her crib over night without any problems! I stayed in there with her and Kelly slept in our bedroom until about 4:00am.... then he ventured his way into the nursery as well. Before putting Kaitlynn down, we did some "rearranging" in the nursery - take a look!
Today.... Monday, October 5th is our nephew's 2nd birthday - Troy David Watson. It's hard to believe he's already two years old! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
*David, Bonnie, and Troy*
Family picture from Troy's 2nd birthday
(borrowed from their blog website!)
Today was overall a pretty good day! It was a gloomy, rainy day but I definitely didn't mind being at home in my pj's all day with my two precious girls. I was able to be a bit domestic this morning during one of Kaitlynn's short naps today - I cleaned our bathrooms!! It always feels so good these days doing housework since my main priority is taking care of Kaitlynn. Anytime she naps these days, I take advantage of that time and do things around the house. Kelly was late coming in from work because of some things he had to do around the office, but it worked out well. Plus, it doesn't matter when he comes in for lunch - it's just nice having him home for 30 minutes - 1 hour during the day! He did remind me though of his day OFF next Monday!! The banks have a "bank holiday" next Monday so we have a 3-day weekend coming up!! I was completely overjoyed with happiness when he reminded me of the holiday.
The only bad thing about rainy days..... no walking! As of this past weekend I was officially able to start working out. We were planning on buying a treadmill for our home, but the weekend slipped away and we have no treadmill. Hopefully this weekend we'll be able to head out and get one so I can start running and not just walking several times a day! I'm ready to get into some type of routine with our daughter so I know when I can work out - whether it's early in the morning while Kelly is home or late in the afternoon once Kelly gets home from work. Soon enough I'll be in some type of routine I think!
Kaitlynn did well again last night in the nursery. Our problem is not where she sleeps, but it's now getting her to sleep! Once we finally get Kaitlynn down, anytime she wakes up to eat, she goes right back to sleep! Her bedtime process started around 9:00pm last night, like every other night! However this time she did not go to sleep until almost 1:00am. Kelly was up with her - I had fallen asleep..... having a 4-hour bedtime process is not enjoyable for anyone! On a positive note, we both slept in our bedroom last night. The monitors worked great - we heard her once she started crying to let us know she was up. Thankfully we do have a baby that makes no noise when she's sleeping, therefore when she does make noise we know she's awake. Now.... just to make her go to sleep around 10:00pm would be wonderful!
Any ideas?? I did put a call into Kaitlynn's PED to see if she might have any suggestions. At this point we're open to anything! We just would like to see our bed before 1:00am in the near future... or should I say Kelly would like to see the bed before that time??
Unlike yesterday, Kaitlynn did much better with her morning nap today. That really shouldn't have been much of a surprise to me considering she didn't go to sleep until 1:00am. I think I'd sleep pretty good myself throughout the morning if I was up that late and required about 15-20 hours of sleep per day! While she was sleeping I got lunch ready - yes at 9:30am! I put together one of our Homestyle Bakes which come in very handy. They take 5 minutes to prepare and then the oven does all the work! Great for new mommies :) Kelly & I usually eat a sandwich or salad for lunch unless we know we're not cooking for dinner. Tonight we're taking food over to Adam & Heather Raub, so we'll do something simple ourselves for dinner = me cooking lunch! Adam & Heather just had their 2nd child a few weeks ago. I cannot wait to see baby Makenna, Stella, and their proud parents!!
So.... how did tonight go for our 1st bath, bottle, bed routine??
We started Kaitlynn on her bedtime routine around 8:00pm because her next feeding was at 8:30pm (or 11:30pm). Kelly had given her a bath earlier, we made the evening calm and relaxed, took Kaitlynn into the nursery around 8:30pm to feed her and BAM - after eating she was wide awake! We tried anything and everything to get her to sleep, but couldn't manage to do so until 2:00am. I don't know if we're attempting to make a drastic change and should try to get her down around 11pm....then slowly move it earlier - I don't really know what to do anymore except pray and let God handle our daughter.
Just for the amusement of last night.... some attempts we made at putting Kaitlynn down -
1. bath, bottle, bed
2. rocking to sleep, then bed
3. swaying to sleep in lap, then bed
4. (Kelly's attempt) Kaitlynn in car seat on top of dryer
5. Bottle, swaying her to sleep, swing = SUCCESS at 2:00am
I don't know when Kelly finally moved her to the crib, but it was sometime between 2:00am and 4:00am because I leaned over and asked him in bed where Kaitlynn was. At this point Kelly was very "out of it" and said that she was in his lap. I had to remind him that he was alseep in the bed - that was when he told me she was in her crib. I was a happy mommy at that point! Kaitlynn slept from 2:00am - 5:30am, then until 8:30am, and again until lunch time (11:30am).
Today was an overall good day except for the fact that Kaitlynn didn't nap again. I ended up calling and having her pediatrician call me back to discuss. She basically told me Kaitlynn had to nap 1-1.5 hours out of her feed, play, sleep routine during the day. Definitely going to be some work on my part even if that means letting her cry it out in the crib to learn. Dr. Smail explained to me that the majority of Kaitlynn's development takes place during sleep time. Hopefully with my initiative I can get Kaitlynn to learn to nap again as she did in the first few weeks of life. Dr. Smail also told me that we didn't need to stay up with Kaitlynn until 2:00am trying to get her down for bed. We needed to let her cry it out, especially if she's fed, clean, and warm. She explained to let her cry 20-30 minutes before consoling her, then attempt again. A few days of consistency would lead to Kaitlynn going down for naps & bedtime much easier.
Tonight, Kelly and I talked things over and we were waiting to see how the bedtime routine played out. We started around 7:15pm tonight with Kaitlynn's bath. We then fed her around 7:45pm in the nursery with all the lights out. She enjoys hearing the Lullaby CD that my aunt gave me so we had that playing softly in the background. Tonight was the first time Kaitlynn has ever taken 4 ounces. My baby girl is growing up! I noticed that after she finished her 3oz. bottle she was still sucking and starting crying a bit. I laid her down, crying and all, and made another ounce to see what she'd do with it - she took it!
Kelly came in, rocked Kaitlynn for about 30 minutes, laid her down in the crib - 10 minutes later the crying began. We let Kaitlynn cry for the first time for 30 minutes tonight. This truly was the hardest thing I have ever listened to. I laid in bed with Kelly and cried myself - it is so hard listening to our daughter cry, but at the same time knowing she's extremely tired make me want to do what's best for her - cry to sleep. Kaitlynn's PED and Baby Wise explained that most babies need to cry themselves to sleep - either to release energy or to just self-soothe. In the long run it'll pay off having her able to put herself to sleep anytime, anywhere. Anyways, when it hit 30 minutes, Kelly went into the nursery to check her diaper and to console our daughter. He ended up giving her another 1.5oz. around 10:00pm, spent time with her in the nursery and she was down in the crib by 11:00pm. Much better than her 1:00/2:00am put-down. At this point, Kelly and I will take an 11:00pm bedtime - it truly felt odd knowing she was asleep by then.
Today.... Thursday marks Kaitlynn's 7-week B.day! I will be spending the entire day attempting to get her on the Baby Wise routine - Feed, Wake, Sleep. Our pediatrician told us yesterday that Kaitlynn needed to rest between every feeding - she even mentioned the "feed, wake, sleep" process.
Hurray for eat-wake-sleep! Once you get into that routine, you'll do just about anything to keep her from getting out-of-sync. So proud of you guys; keep it up!
ReplyDeletei love baby feet pictures...too cute! Kaitlynn's nursery looks good!
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